EAST-TURKESTAN: OPEN LETTER OF ENVER CAN TO THE SHELL DIRECTOR Beware of Human Rights violations: SHELL must detach itself from natural Gas Project with China in East Turkestan! 13 May 2002 Dear Madam, Dear Sir, On Thursday, the 16th of May is date of the Royal Dutch/Shell's Annual General Meeting both in Den Haag and London. Because of this, we kindly ask you on behalf of the East Turkestan (Uyghuristan) National Congress (ETNC), the umbrella body of 18 Uyghur diaspora organisations around the world, to do everything possible, that Shell detaches itself from the planned natural gas extraction in East Turkestan (also called Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of China). Do not let your company to become co-responsible for the human rights violations which the government of the Peoples Republic of China have been exercising in our country for decades. According to our information, the Shell Group is leading a consortium which is set to partner Chinese energy company PetroChina in a project to build a huge "West-East" gas pipline linking East Turkestan with Shanghai in eastern China. The consortium will hold a 45% stake in the project, with the remainder retained by 90% state owned PetroChina. The deal, worth an estimated US$18 billion, includes exploration and extraction of gas in the Tarim Basin as well as operation of the 4,000 km (2,400 miles) pipeline. The pipeline is a major component of China's 'Western Development Plan', which also includes projects in Tibet, including the 'Sebei-Lanzhou' gas pipeline which PetroChina has already built and is operating, taking natural gas from Tibet's Tsaidam Basin for industrial growth in eastern China. In all likelihood, these two pipelines will connect and the 'West-East' pipeline may eventually allow China to tap into the vast gas fields of Russia or Turkmenistan. We Uyghurs are against this project. Since occupation of our country in 1949 by the communist Chinese military the Uyghur people have been deprived of their right for self-determination. The so called "autonomy" status of Xinjiang exists only on paper. The Uyghur who speak up for their rights are victims of arbitrary detentions, torture and executions. According to information by international human rights organisations like Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, the Society for Threatened Peoples, and the U.S. State Department since February 1997 more than 293 Uyghurs have been sentenced to death for political reasons. The Chinese policy of repression in East Turkestan is not directed only against dissenters, but against all Uyghur population. Under disguise of so called "Development of Xinjiang" the Chinese communist Regime had resettled millions of ethnic Chinese (Han) immigrants in East Turkestan. Before 1949 the Han Chinese comprised only 5% of the population of East Turkestan whereas today they make more than 41%, according to official statistics. The local peoples of East Turkestan, including the Uyghurs, Kazakhs and Kyrgyz have been forcibly assimilated and those who oppose, are socially and economically marginalized. The State owned companies employ mostly Han Chinese and the Uyghurs increasingly suffer under Apartheid-like conditions. PetroChina, and the Chinese state are exploiting the natural resources of occupied territories. These projects are part of China's strategy to consolidate political control of the so-called 'Western Regions'. Uyghurs will derive little or no benefit from the exploitation of their resources, which will facilitate population transfer of Han Chinese into these area and pose a significant threat to their culture and environment. In other parts of the world, oil, gas and mineral extraction projects have often exacerbated political tensions and led to bloody conflicts. Tragic events in the Niger Delta, in Indonesia and in Colombia amply illustrate this. Tension between a poor and repressed local population and a wealthy foreign corporation also often leads to violent confrontation. Even where open conflict does not break out, oil, gas and mineral extraction projects -and the money and outsiders that they bring - bring fundamental changes in the social, cultural, economic and political landscape. As the US State Department recently noted: "Where indigenous peoples clash with development projects, the developers almost always win". Existing impact assessments have been inadequate. Shell has signed a joint agreement with UNDP to carry out social impact assessments for the project, but there is little information available as to the scope of the assessments. There are fundamental difficulties in conducting meaningful impact assessments in a country where freedom of speech is limited and opposition to government priorities may be construed as political dissent. In 2000, an independent inspection panel visited an area in Tibet where social impact assessments for a resettlement project had been conducted, apparently to World Bank standards. The panel found a "climate of fear" in the area and the assessments were totally discredited. The people of East Turkestan want development. They want an end to decades of poverty and deprivation that the Chinese occupation has brought. But the oil and gas projects are not designed for their benefit. They are designed for the consolidation of Chinese control over the region, and for the benefit of Chinese in the east. Moreover, extraction is not development. Extraction restricts investment to enclaves while surrounding areas remain underdeveloped. Extraction transfers few skills, education, facilities or benefits to local populations. Extraction is for distant industries that seek access to cheap raw commodities. China calls this project development but is unwilling to treat local communities as stakeholders with rights to independently articulate their concerns, receive royalties and compensation, get training to participate in new industries, and receive funding for the long term environmental damage such projects cause. Dear Madam, Dear Sir, Due to international human rights standards, Shell should distance itself from gas exploitation and extraction project in East Turkestan! We, on behalf of our people - who can not talk-will continue to protest against your company's and others' cooperation with the dictators in Beijing! We kindly expect positive steps by your side! Respectfully yours, Enver Can President